Fluid Mechanics, Its

Types and
Applications
By
Nofal Umair

Fluid
Mechanics
Definition
Fluid mechanics is the study of fluids
and the forces on them. (Fluids include
liquids, gases, and plasmas.)

Fluid Mechanics
Fluid
Statics

Fluid
Dynamics

Fluid
Kinematics

the study of
fluids at rest

the study of
the effect of
forces on
fluid motion

the study of
fluids in
motion

Brief history

The history of fluid mechanics, the study

of how fluids move and the forces on
them, dates back to the Ancient Greeks.

Archimedes:

Archimedes develops the law of

buoyancy, also known as Archimedes'
Principle.
This principle states that a body
immersed in a fluid experiences a
buoyant force equal to the weight of the
fluid it displaces.

Middle Ages
Islamicate physicists
Islamicate scientists, particularly Abu
RayhanBiruni (9731048) and later AlKhazini (fl. 11151130), were the first to
apply experimentalscientific methods to
fluid mechanics, especially in the field of
fluid statics, such as for determining
specific weights.

Continued..

In fluid statics, Biruni discovered that

there is a correlation between the
specific gravity of an object and the
volume of water it displaces. He also
introduced the method of checking tests
during experiments and measured the
weights of various liquids.

Seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries
Blaise Pascal
In the hands of Blaise Pascal hydrostatics
assumed the dignity of a science, and in a
treatise on the equilibrium of liquids (Sur
l'equilibre des liqueurs), found among his
manuscripts after his death and published in
1663, the laws of the equilibrium of liquids
were demonstrated in the most simple
manner, and amply confirmed by experiments.

Studies by Isaac Newton

The effects of friction and viscosity in diminishing the
velocity of running water were noticed in the Principia of
Sir Isaac Newton, who threw much light upon several
branches of hydromechanics.
At a time when the Cartesian system of vortices
universally prevailed, he found it necessary to
investigate that hypothesis, and in the course of his
investigations he showed that the velocity of any
stratum of the vortex is an arithmetical mean between
the velocities of the strata which enclose it; and from this
it evidently follows that the velocity of a filament of water
moving in a pipe is an arithmetical mean between the
velocities of the filaments which surround it.

Leonhard Euler

The resolution of the questions

concerning the motion of fluids was
effected by means of Leonhard Euler's
partial differential coefficients. This
calculus was first applied to the motion
of water by d'Alembert, and enabled
both him and Euler to represent the
theory of fluids in formulae restricted by
no particular hypothesis.

Nineteenth century

Hermann von Helmholtz

In his paper Helmholtz established his

three "laws of vortex motion" in much the
same way one finds them in any advanced
textbook of fluid mechanics today. This
work established the significance of
vorticity to fluid mechanics and science in
general.

Relationship to continuum mechanics:

Types of Fluid
Mechanics

Aerodynamics

Hydrodynamics

Real-Life Applications

Bernoulli's Principle in Action

As fluid moves from a wider pipe to a narrower one,

the volume of the fluid that moves a given distance
in a given time period does not change. But since
the width of the narrower pipe is smaller, the fluid
must move faster (that is, with greater dynamic
pressure) in order to move the same amount of fluid
the same distance in the same amount of time.
Observe the behavior of a river: in a wide,
unconstricted region, it flows slowly, but if its flow is
narrowed by canyon walls, it speeds up
dramatically.

CREATING A DRAFT

Among the most famous applications of

Bernoulli's principle is its use in
aerodynamics, and this is discussed in
the context of aerodynamics itself
elsewhere in this book. Likewise, a
number of other applications of
Bernoulli's principle are examined in an
essay devoted to that topic.

A Wind Tunnel

The above scenario of wind flowing

through a room describes a rudimentary
wind tunnel. A wind tunnel is a chamber
built for the purpose of examining the
characteristics of airflow in contact with
solid objects, such as aircraft and
automobiles.

FLUID MECHANICS FOR

PERFORMING WORK

Though applications of Bernoulli's principle

are among the most dramatic examples of
fluid mechanics in operation, the everyday
world is filled with instances of other ideas at
work. Pascal's principle, for instance, can be
seen in the operation of any number of
machines that represent variations on the
idea of a hydraulic press. Among these is the
hydraulic jack used to raise a car off the floor
of an auto mechanic's shop.

PUMPS

A pump is a device made for moving fluid, and it

does so by utilizing a pressure difference, causing
the fluid to move from an area of higher pressure
to one of lower pressure. Its operation is based on
aspects both of Pascal's and Bernoulli's principles
though, of course, humans were using pumps
thousands of years before either man was born.

THANKS.!!!!